generosity

From Middle English generosite, from Latin generōsitās.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌd͡ʒɛn.əˈɹɒs.ɪ.ti/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌd͡ʒɛn.əˈɹɑ.sə.ti/, [ˌd͡ʒɛn.əˈɹɑ.sə.ɾi]
• Hyphenation: ge‧ne‧ros‧i‧ty
• Rhymes: -ɒsɪti

generosity (countable and uncountable, plural generosities)

1. (uncountable) The trait of being willing to donate money, resources, or time.

   Synonyms: charity, largesse, liberality

   Antonym: stinginess

   • 1963, Erik H. Erikson, Childhood and Society:

     We have mentioned generosity as an outstanding virtue required in Sioux life.

   • 2013 June 14, Jonathan Freedland, “Obama's once hip brand is now tainted”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 18:

     Now we are liberal with our innermost secrets, spraying them into the public ether with a generosity our forebears could not have imagined. Where we once sent love letters in a sealed envelope, or stuck photographs of our children in a family album, now such private material is despatched to servers and clouds operated by people we don't know and will never meet.

2. (uncountable) A desire to give or share without expecting payment; charity; an eager willingness to demonstrate openness and empathy or to provide a charitable outlook on something; a desire to share either emotionally or in resources, time, etc.
3. (countable) A generous act.

   Synonym: beau geste

   • 1873, Reverend M. C. Tyler, Proceedings at the Laying of the Corner Stone of the Sage College of the Cornell University:

     May the generosities of the founders of these halls, be rewarded by the fair and holy characters which shall be here formed […] .

4. (uncountable) The trait of being abundant, more than adequate.
5. (archaic, uncountable) Good breeding; nobility of stock.

   Synonym: nobility